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Wolves, Spirits and Hags
---- The flames of the fireplace crackled in the background as Wilhelmine paced up and down the great hall of her family's house. The initiation of Palandiell had caused some strife among the members of the Sibiko House, but nonetheless excitement for the upcoming battles. Thing was, the Atosaki Family had come in a great number, one that exceeded the Sibiko family by many. To Wilhelmine, she needed to the cooperation of family that could be traced back from before. Having already enlisted the help of the Diyos brothers, Guy and Anak Diyos, all that was left was the extended family that stemmed from Philip's siblings. Holding a book in her hand, Wilhelmine held her chin, rubbing the sides of it, wondering if Gai Diyos had been able to come into contact with the specific individual she needed. After all, this man was the only real last blood-related member to the Sibiko family branch. Without warning a black shadow appeared on a wall furthest from Wilhelmine, emitting sounds of magic being brought apart. It wasn't teleportation, but simply transportation from one "dimension" to the next. It was something that very few had managed to do, but a part that was vital to a particular type of magic she had become well acquainted with in the past few weeks. Out stepped a dark-skinned man with red eyes, dressed in maroon robes, and beside him another with an eye patch over his eye. Gai had come back, seemingly with the person he was instructed to bring into an audience with Wilhelmine. "Got him." He said, pushing the man forward towards Wilhelmine. Stumbling forward but still able to hold stand up straight after the sudden change of environment and push from his supposed captor, Æthelwulf had been put in shackles whilst still trying to come to as he'd been hit with a blunt object before getting caught. One moment he'd been on the hunt for hefty bounty, the other he'd lost his balance after getting ambushed from behind. Clothed in white, rugged clothing while showing signs of a gun-strap around his waist yet no guns, as they'd been taken by Gai. The bounty hunter had taken a firm step forward as he was moved, only to swing his head back with the aim of slamming it into his captor's nose. He hadn't said anything, yet Æthelwulf had naturally found the situation to be odd to be sure. If they'd wanted him dead then why not do it then and there- unless if they wanted to give him a good one before doing so. His line of work didn't suggest much other choices. Haven't shown to expect resilience, Gai was forced back as he fell to the ground. Feeling a sharp sting in his nose, rubbing and massaging the region from the pain. He didn't let out a scream, however, and quickly got back up as Wilhemine approached the two. Holding the book in both hands, the matriarch of the Sibiko family took a bow to the guest. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Léoup..." She greeted, returning to an upright position before moving towards the fireplace. "I must apologize for the sudden audience but time is of the essence here." Gai approached Æthelwulf from behind and held the man still as to not move, seemingly trying to remove this shackles from the bounty hunter. However, as a response to his earlier assault, Gai sent the side of his hand flying towards the top of Æthelwulf's head in a vertical downward strike. He'd look back at his handy work as the man stumbled back, Æthelwulf stare and stoic face didn't suggest that he did it out of amusement but more so to send a message. As he looked back towards Wilhelmine as she approached him, he'd expected that she'd attack him with magic as she extended her and. Yet as she instead bowed down, Æthelwulf was even more confused than before, even if his face remained the same. "A pleasure? You're an odd one if that's how you greet someone you either want dead or want to hire..." This was his belief for the time being, as he didn't recognize the place or woman at all. Feeling the shackles being tugged from behind, it was odd yet still a relief to have them off. But it was short lived with the sudden hand-chop colliding with his skull, causing his upper body to lean forward and his hands to instinctively reach for the area of impact. Yet with the shackles gone, he'd free will to use his magic and wasted no time doing so. As his hands moved upwards, his body suddenly started to rapidly exceed the speed of normal mages and spun around to send a straight, right knuckle towards Gai's nose yet again. "FUCK." Gai yelled out as he was sent back again. Wilhelmine shook her head and pointed out the portrait that sat above the fireplace. Instead of an image of one of the Sibiko members, it was a large decorated family tree stating the lines of the Sibiko House, from the Diyos' connection far back to Æthelwulf's own. It was designed like a tree itself, with many branches sprouting outward and into the names of the many members of the Sibiko line. From Amadeus Diyos to Marie Sibiko, it captured every single member who was related by blood. A magical item of itself, it traced the line to every single blood-related member in the world at times, describing birth dates and death times. In a way, it was sort of a list describing Wilhelmine's reinforcements for the tournament. "After you two are finished, I'd like to point out why you are here, Léoup." She turned towards Æthelwulf, "I understand that you yourself are an Encan, as the Sibiko family are, so I take it that you know what Palandiel is?" she asked hesitantly, wondering if the bounty hunter knew of their traditions. Looking back over his shoulder to see the magical item at work, Æthelwulf's eyes wandered the family tree and took note of not only his own name but also that of his deceased mother. He didn't know much about his family heritage from his mother's side, being more acquainted with the one of his father's, not that he'd ever had to care or been interested about it once his aunt took the bullet. Yet as he listened to Wilhelmine and stared back into her eyes until she finished. "Not interested." Was the only thing he said, despite having wanted to make a few more comments, a short direct answer felt as if it'd hit home a little bit more. Looking back at the man that he'd just recently punched, Æthelwulf inspected Gai for but a moment before reaching out to grab hold of his pistols that the man had previously stolen from him. Holding his palm out in the direction of Æthelwulf, Gai released a short burst of energy intended to calmly send Æthelwulf back away from his weapons. "We're not asking you to be interested, we're asking you to listen and follow." He ordered, turning to the guns and flicking the weapons away. "All we ask is for your ears, and your loyalty as a blood member of the Sibiko family." Wilhelmine inducted, "As you can see we are short on members, and the family we intend to fight against exceed the number of us by many. Your mother was the sister to our dear father, and so you are the cousin that we have heard so little about. I can only thank that it is that simple, as Mr. Diyos' connection goes back to the father of my grandfather." Gai simply tipped his head to Wilhelmine's comment, before turning to Æthelwulf once again, awaiting a comment from the bounty hunter. It wasn't like getting the man was particularly easy, especially since both of them are well versed in the art of the hunt. "Get to the point Wilhelmine." "What we are trying to say is will you join us in this tournament of Palandiel? As far as I know, a traditional tournament like this hasn't occurred between two noble families since the old times." Wilhelmine summarised, opening the book she held in her hands and scanned the pages. Raising his arms and crossing them between one another as to defend his body, yet it became evident that the energy blast had managed to do as it was intended, causing Æthelwulf to be pushed just a minor distance from his original position but enough to get the message through. "Tch," the man muttered in dissatisfaction due to the people's persistence on keeping him around. Lowering his arms and hands to the sides, the bounty hunter turned back over towards his supposed cousin and listened to what she had to say. He couldn't help but to glimpsing over at the family tree and at the mention of the Diyos family name and guessed that the man behind him would either be Gai or Anak, which would, either way, make him a third cousin or something along those lines. At the mention of Palandiel yet again, memories seemed to return to the rugged man as he'd remember someone mentioning about the tournament from his younger days but couldn't really cite the details. "Doesn't appear to be much of a request now does it?" Æthelwulf's voice remained cold, "Don't drag me into your mess, I frankly don't care who you are or what you want. Both of you and this family can stick it where the sun doesn't shine and die in a ditch for all I care." Maybe it was the way he arrived that got him into a fouler mood than usual, or maybe it was just the usual way of speaking these days. Without hesitating, Gai held both palms out towards Æthelwulf and sent an even more forceful burst of energy, enough to cause the flames in the fireplace to nearly go out as well as shaking the room around them. It was obvious that he was in no mood for denial of their request. "Be careful what you say, white mutt, or it might just be your dead body thrown in a ditch." Gai threatened. Wilhelmine had no intention of interfering just quite yet, gaining her posture back as the flames rekindled after a moment. She had yet to see what this lost cousin of hers could actually do, and with Gai's special way of bringing the combative side of most people out, only their encounter now could tell if he was suitable for the place. "Stand at attention and bow, before I break both your legs so you'll be kneeling for the rest of the night." Gai threatened once again. With his body being flung forward and sent almost face first onto the floor if it wasn't for his hands covering his head, only to glide a few meters as Æthelwulf made the impact. Cursing beneath his breath as he placed each hand onto the floorboard and started to make his way up again, hearing Gai's first comment didn't make things any better as this whole ordeal was already a shitshow. As he got up and heard the second remark, the veins in his head started to pop out as the blood inside of him was already started to boil. "A threat? An order?! To fucking bow down to a cunt of your caliber!!" Before going on, magical seals flickering with a yellow hue started appearing in the room and time slowed down all around them, to which the bounty hunter was able to seemingly move at double the pace of anything he did. Giving him enough time to not only raise his finger in a gun-like stance before shooting a magical bullet aimed for Gai's left knee whilst simultaneously creating yet another spell that would seemingly not do anything, for the time being, only to start making his way towards Gai in a rapid pace. The magic shot crashed into Gai's leg, sustaining minimal damage to a degree, but causing the mage to jolt in place suddenly. Without hesitation, Gai held one hand out and created a magic barrier before him, protecting his front from Æthelwulf's charge. The other hand was powered with black energy that began emitting particles after its conjuring. If Æthelwulf was making a charge to him, he would have to ram into the transparent barrier between them unknowingly. It would give time for Gai to break it and deliver a fist of magic to his target. Yet Æthelwulf had never intended to go for his opponent, but rather his weapons as the increase in speed from Gai's perspective would allow the bounty hunter to swiftly cross the room and reach out for the guns. It was too good to be true to think that he'd simply walk by like that and not make up for it later, to which is why his guns were now being pointed at his opponent and visibly charging up for an attack. At this time, the yellow seals would also have started to fade, making his next to the last one at double pace for the time being. Noticing the changed route, Gai moved to face Æthelwulf‘s new position, steadily holding the barrier before him. As the shots fired off towards Gai, Gai pushed his hand further to let his barrier soak in the damage. His expertise at the spell resulted in quite a resilience, as the barrier was sustained after the shots had collided. The particles from his charging hand began to fade away and instead looked to the shadow beneath Æthelwulf. In mere moments a black twister erupted from beneath the man, intending him to be lifted up and force him to move around once again. As the vortex grew closer from beneath him, Æthelwulf didn't seem to pay any attention to it in the slightest, but really he was fully aware of its presence and wanted to thank his precaution. Yet he wouldn't as he'd never made it alive for this long if he didn't take actions like these: Which was ultimately referencing to the spell that he cast earlier that didn't appear to do anything, but in truth, it was Reflective Wave which would cause the shadows to disperse right where they came from. Seeing as the attack had been thwarted and an opportunity being given with the last few remaining seconds of his Slowing Magic, the bounty hunter would fire off one shot per gun in an attempt to get rid of Gai quick and easy. They were fired almost simultaneously, with the left one going off just a moment earlier which held a bullet capable of neutralizing or otherwise dispelling magic while the second being a potent . The first shot bounced off the first barrier, disabling it for the time and leaving Gai open for the next attack. As the bullet collided with Gai's body, the electric energy jolted around his body, shocking him by surprise. The guild master fell to the ground before sinking into his shadow below him, out of sight. At a first glance, it would seem as though Æthelwulf had won their small scuffle, with Wilhelmine taking a seat near the fireplace and eyeing the two from the top of her eyes. "Well well, it seems we might have someone useful on our side." She complimented in a dark tone, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. "Shut it," was his only response as Æthelwulf lowered one arm to strap away his left gun while his right one had followed Gai's shadow as it descended. He wasn't in the mood for compliments or anything to do with these people all together as he had neither obtained any reason for interest or reason to aid them. "Hiding won't do you any good... whatever your name was. Not worth remembering yet." Then, with the gun aimed at the shadow, the bounty hunter released the trigger and fired off a as to illuminate the entire room and rid of any shadow lurking in it. Although limiting Gai from entering the room again from the shadows, there were other places outside that he could attack Æthelwulf from. Just as Æthelwulf had fired off his shot, a long black blade had pierced the wall near him and was quickly making its way to Æthelwulf's torso, seemingly trying to impale him. Wilhelmine saw all this and tried to hold herself back from interfering, seeing Gai's extreme way of approaching the matter. Making a diagonal swing using his left hand that no held onto the gun it previously obtained, raw magical energies started surging along the movement and it had formed into that of Magical Longsword. With the blade in hand, the bounty hunter managed to intersect with the black blade. "It's always the assholes that don't go out immediately after getting electrocuted..." Whilst Æthelwulf's thoughts told him one thing, another one was relieved that it hadn't been enough and that he was was up against someone tenacious. Raising his right hand yet again towards the direction of which the blade came from, Æthelwulf fired off a few bullets all the while looking around the room in order to try and spot where Gai would emerge. The black blade was quickly retracted through its penetration in the wall and out of sight as Æthelwulf continued firing his weapon. The first part of their fight was simply to see what Æthelwulf could do, and with that Gai was more than cautious with his next movements. He wanted to move the battle to a more open field of combat, the only question was how he was going to do that. A black aura began circulating around Gai, the magic energy around him was beginning to pile, sustaining the mage as well as empowering his being. "This better be worth the trouble." Gai thought out loud, rolling his eyes. Holding one palm out, imbued and layered with an aura bulging with magical energy, Gai sent it forward into the wall, destroying it. The wall exploded with great force, breaking into pieces sent flying Æthelwulf's way. It was to both catch him off guard and possibly knock back the bullets coming this way, but open up space for his attack. Simultaneously, Gai held another hand behind him, bringing forth a large black tendril that shot towards Æthelwulf, narrowly missing the mage as it aimed to knock Æthelwulf back after the burst. With the sudden removal of the wall, Æthelwulf responded with the fastest way that he could think of when it came to cleaning up rumble that was too numerous to count: As he pulled the trigger back again it wasn't the usual magical bullets but rather a that stretched from his position and all the way across the room and the next one after. As he was only using one handgun for this, the power behind it wasn't close to full potential yet still enough to clear out the way while simultaneously reverting it back at its perpetrator, whether it came through direct contact or as a result of the rumble making it collateral damage. Even though it wasn't the plan, the attack did also serve as a way to push the tendril away under the same principle of how it came to get counter its original purpose. Due to the amount of rumble and things happening because of these activities, it was difficult to spot Gai from his current position and instead took the opportunity to kneel downwards to swiftly draw a magical rune onto the floorboard before lifting his head again and hoping it wouldn't be too late to respond to any potential threats. Noticing the change of path for his attacks, Gai immediately held out both his hands out to create an invisible barrier once again. The debris bounced off his shield, though slightly causing Gai to feel uneasy about the counter. He dropped back into his own shadow once again, disappearing. Wilhelmine began to make her way to leave the room, transforming into an almost transparent figure of herself as she floated gracefully through a nearby window. After all those attacks, she chose to walk out in this one, as if she was expecting something more to come. Busting through the windows and doors to the great hall, numerous black figures resembling the shape of Gai entered the hall. Surrounding Æthelwulf, they all seemed to be equipped with different spells that seemed to take over their hands and feet. Some of the figures who had bladed hands, similar to the earlier attack Gai had commenced before began to strike out, charging towards Æthelwulf intending to slice him. From different directions and with reinforcements, this was Gai's way of sending fodder to weaken the opposition. Not being too much of a fan of having to use the magical rune this early, Æthelwulf resorted to using other means even as he witnessed the black-clad humanoids entering and closing in on him. Raising his free hand upwards whilst gathering the ever-increasing amount of magical energies in the atmosphere alongside that which dwelled inside him, a transparent dome suddenly formed within a ten feet radius. Figuring that it would be enough to keep Gai and his shadows at bay, or at least see some of the dissolves before the real one showed up, the bounty hunter gasped out for air as he'd been exerting such advanced spells one after the other in such quick succession. A little breathing room didn't hurt, yet the knowledge that he could and most likely would be attacked at any moment wasn't anything new yet still just as annoying. A sudden burst of force shook the room above them, but one that far exceeded the power of the similar bursts from before. The roof gave way and collapsed as it began to descend onto Æthelwulf below. From above Æthelwulf came Gai coming down with bits of the ceiling, intending to bury him underneath all the rubble. Gai was seemlingly riding the rubble down, with his position not too far from his opponent's.